Court Alerts

A caller who claims to be with the county Sheriff’s Office has been telling citizens that they were summoned to jury duty but failed to appear and therefore have been fined. Some people have been told the fine is $1,000. THIS IS A SCAM AND NOT TRUE!
No one from the Sheriff’s Office or the court would call and ask for payment of a jury fine over the phone. Anyone who does not respond to a summons would be given a chance to explain his or her nonappearance to a judge before any fine is imposed.

A fraudulent email is being widely distributed around the U.S. with the subject line “Urgent court notice NR#73230” (or another random number) that claims the receiver is scheduled to appear in “the court of Washington” on January 17. The receiver is then instructed to open the attached court notice and read it thoroughly, and is warned about not appearing. This is a “malware” email and will download a virus to your computer if you open the attachment. Please delete the email immediately without opening it. This email did not originate with the Administrative Office of the Courts or any Washington courts, and neither AOC nor the Judicial Information System (JIS) have been impacted in any way. For some useful information and tips, visit the FBI E-Scams and Warnings site at http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/e-scams

King County District Court’s recently adopted policy (GAO 14-07) regarding public access to District Court files. The policy was adopted to bring us into compliance with our State’s Constitutional mandate for open courts and GR 31. This policy also reflects the Washington Supreme Court’s repeal of ARLJ 9. Records that were deemed confidential or quasi confidential under ARLJ 9 are now public.